Improvement in automatic brakes



a. McCALIP.

' AUTOMATIC BRAKE.

Patented'Nov. 21, 1876,

monms.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HUGH MGOALIP, OF HARTSVILLE, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND NORTON R.

CHAMPION, OF SHELBYVILLE, INDIANA.

' IMPROVEMENT IN AUTOMATIC BRAKES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 184,538, dated November21, 1876; application filed I June 12, 1876.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGH MCOALIP, of Hartsville, in the county ofBartholomew and State of Indiana, have invented a new and ImprovedAutomatic Oar-Brake, of which the following is a specification:

Figure l is a bottom view of a railroad-car to which my improved brakehas been applied, parts being broken away to show the construction. Fig.2 is a detail longitudinal section taken through the-line a: m, Fig. 1.Fig.

3 is a detail section of one of the pawl-wheels, taken through the line2 a, Fig. 1. Fig. 4' is a detail section of the other pawl-wheel of thesame axle, taken through the line y y, Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a detail bottomview of the push-bar. Fig. 6 is a detail side view of the push-bar andthe inner part of the bumper.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

. The object of this invention is to furnish an improved car-brake,which shall be so constructed as to be applied by the momentum of thecars as they run together when the traction-power is checked, and whichwill be withdrawn as the traction-power is again applied.

The invention will first be described in connection with the drawing,and then pointed out in the claims. v

A represents the bottom frame or'body of a railroad-car. B are thetruck-frames. O are the axles, and D are the wheels. Upon the axles O,near their ends, are placed two loose brake-wheels, E, upon the faces ofwhich rest the brake-straps F. The lower ends of the brake-straps F arepivoted to brackets Gr, attached to the car-body A. To the upper ends ofthe brake-straps F of each brake-wheel are attached the outer ends oftwo rods, H, the inner ends of which are pivoted to a short lever, I,upon the opposite sides of, and equally distant from, the pivot of saidlever I. The levers Iare pivoted to the car-body A, and the inner endsof the two levers I of eachtruck B project until they nearly meet, andhave circular heads formed upon them, to receive the slotted end of thepush-bar J, and have notches formed in said heads to receive a pinattached to the slotted end of the said push-bar, to center it upon saidheads. The push-bar J is kept in place upon the heads of the levers I bya spring-catch, j, the shoulder of which rests upon the rear edges ofsaid heads. The outer end of the push-bar J is connected with the forkedinner end of the bumper K, which passes through notches or mortises inthe parts of the bolster I), through keepers a, attached to. thecar-body A, and its end projects at the end of the car to receive thecoupling in the usual way.

Upon the branches of the bumper K are formed shoulders k, to restagainst the sides of the bolster b, and at a distance apart enoughgreater than the breadth of the bolster b to give sufficient play to thepush-bar J to applyand withdraw the brakes. The 1evers I, upon the sameside of the car, are connected by a rod, L, so that the brakes may beapplied to the wheels of both trucks at the same time. The twoconnecting-rods L are connected by an equal-armed lever, M, pivoted atits center to the car-body A, so that the operation of applying thebrakes to the wheels E upon one side may withdraw the brakes from thewheels uponthe other side.

To the axle 0, between the brake-wheels E,

are rigidly attached two wheels, 0, to each of which is pivoted one ormore pawls, P, which are held'down by springs, and engage withratchet-wheels Q, rigidly connected with, or formed solidly upon, thebrake-wheels E, and which may be madewith one or more teeth, as may bedesired. The two sets of pawls P, and ratchet-wheels Q, are arranged inreverse position with respect to each other, so thatthe brakes upon oneside may be applied when one end of the car is forward, and the brakesupon the other side may be applied when the other end of the car isforward, the end of the push-barJ being moved from one to the other 'ofthe levers I every time the car is reversed.

bumper the brakes will be applied on one set of wheels as long as thebumper meets with resistance on the forward motion. During this time theopposite brake-wheels are held firmly in the straps, but motionless,while the axle revolves in them, the pawls being oif. When it is desiredto change the direction of the car, the inner end of push-bar is changedfrom one lever I to the other. Thus it will be seen that two of thewheels brake in one, and two others in another, direction; but this isonly half the operation. When the pullingpower of the engine is checked,the brakes are automatically applied to one set of wheels and the trainis stopped. The reversal of the engine now will produce no effect uponthe position of the brakes; but the change in the direction of therotation of the axle releases the pawls from one set of wheels andcauses them to take hold on the opposite ones, when the train may bebacked without further 0bstruction, the brakes remaining open as long asthe pushing continues. When the pushingpower of the engine is checked,the momentum carries the train away from it and the slack motion of.bumper applies the brakes to the opposite wheels, thus braking backwardas well as forward hence I employ one set of brakes for a forward motioneach way, and another for a backward motion each way.

. Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent- I 1. A car-brake, made reversible by changingthe inner end of push-bar to inner end of a lever, I, and provided withtwo sets of wheels that brake in opposite directions, as and for thepurpose described.

2. The combination of the rods H, the levers I, and the push-bar J, withthe brakes F and the bumper K, substantially as herein shown anddescribed.

3. The combination of the connecting-rods L with the levers I, thatoperate the brakes upon the same side of the two trucks B, substantiallyas herein shown and described.

4. The combination of the two pawl-wheels and their pawls andratchet-wheels, working in opposite directions, with the axleG and thebrake-wheels O, substantially as herein shown and described. 1

HUGH MOOALIP.

Witnesses:

WM. 0. WOCHLEN, Enw. F. LENNERT.

